Two new traffic signals planned in early 2006

FALLBROOK —— Hoping to improve two intersections that often
frustrate commuters, the county's Department of Public Works and a
private contractor will install a pair of traffic signals in
Fallbrook early next year, county officials said Wednesday.

Work on the first signal, which is going in at the intersection
of Mission Road and Alvarado Street, is expected to start next
month. It should help ease the ire of motorists trying to turn left
onto Mission from Alvarado, said Fallbrook Planning Group member
Eileen Delaney.

County planners say construction on the second light, at Reche
and Gird roads, will be started once the contractor, DBX Inc., has
finished work at the Mission Road site.

During the afternoon rush hour, drivers often sit for several
minutes on Alvarado Street with their left turn signals on, waiting
for a break in the onrushing going-home traffic before making the
turn into Mission's two southbound lanes.

Some local planners questioned the county's decision to install
a light at Mission and Alvarado, saying there were other
intersections in more need of the green, yellow and red
signals.

But Wednesday, Delaney said that she looked forward to having a
light at that intersection, which is adjacent to the Fallbrook
Library.

The intersection "did warrant a new signal because of accidents
and other problems that the county looks at," she pointed out,
referring to the county's system of "warrants" that tallies
accidents and recommends which intersections to improve. "Based on
the alternatives —— stop signs, merging lanes —— I think the signal
makes the most sense, from a safety standpoint. I think they may
also have looked at pedestrian traffic there, coming from
schools."

There are two elementary schools across Mission from the
library, which is on the corner of Alvarado and Mission, and south
a few blocks. Although crossing guards help children and others
cross the busy, four-lane road safely, a light-regulated crosswalk
may be a good idea, Delaney said.

Steve Ron, a county project manager, said that rush-hour
congestion on Alvarado Street was a primary reason the county saw
it necessary to build a signal there.

"At Mission and Alvarado, the problem is that traffic trying to
get across Mission or trying to make a left turn onto Mission in
either direction gets backed up," said Ron.

Tom Parry, a county traffic engineer, said that while county
officials are concerned about a pattern of accidents that has been
developing, "It had to do more with delay and people trying to
access Mission from Alvarado.

"Most of the time, that's the case —— it's usually delay on the
minor street that requires us to cause delay on the major street,"
Parry said. "Any time you put in a signal, you cause delay on a
major (street), so you really have to consider it."

Once work is done at Alvarado Street, crews will move to the
intersection of Gird and Reche roads, just adjacent to Live Oak
Park. There, they will install a traffic signal, along with
left-turn lanes and safety lights, said Ron.

"The sight distance at Reche and Gird needs to be improved, and
one of the ways to do that is with a signal," said Ron, singling
out the dangerous curve just east of where Gird meets Reche as one
main reason why a light is needed there.

Ron estimated that work on the second signal should be finished
sometime in May.